Piloting Community-Based Adaptation Activities: Early Experiences in Bangladesh Angie Dazé and Ahsan Uddin Ahmed Adaptation Day at CoP11 Sunday, December 4, 2005

The Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change (RVCC) Project  Project Goal: To increase capacity of communities in the southwest region of Bangladesh to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change  Funding provided by the Canada Climate Change Development Fund (CCCDF) at CIDA  Managed by CARE Canada and implemented by CARE Bangladesh through local partner organizations  Duration: January January 2006  RVCC works in six districts in the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh

Assessment of Vulnerability  Project undertook 78 group vulnerability assessments  Examined what people are vulnerable to, what aspects of well-being are affected, and what coping strategies are currently employed  Vulnerability contexts were ranked in terms of their impact on well-being  Out of the ten elements most frequently identified as having high or medium impact on well-being, six will be directly affected by climate change: Salinity Flood Waterlogging Drought Wind/storm Erratic/heavy rainfall

Developing Adaptation Strategies  Based on findings of vulnerability assessment, adaptation strategies were designed  Focus on practical solutions for food and income security and access to safe water to increase coping capacity  Strategies designed to address current challenges and development needs in a way that is sustainable in the longer term context of climate change

New ways to cope  End of project evaluations showed that project participants feel that their coping capacity has increased  Reliance on drastic coping strategies such as migrating for work, selling land and assets, and eating non- traditional foods was reduced  People also felt that their ability to access services and to participate in local organizations was increased, and this supported their ability to adapt

An Integrated Approach to Adaptation  Approach focused on capacity development (for project participants, local partners, government) and this was found to facilitate adaptation  Awareness raising and advocacy efforts have had positive results in terms of generating interest in climate change in the region

Working in Partnership  Working with local partners increased relevance and sustainability of adaptation activities  Emphasis on creating linkages with local government leaders and service providers  Supportive relationship has been established which will extend beyond the life of the project

Final Thoughts  RVCC piloted an integrated, community-led approach to reducing environmental vulnerability  Created an enabling environment for coping with current challenges, while addressing poverty and developing adaptive capacity for the future  Project clearly demonstrates the relevance of climate change issues to rural development and livelihoods programming